It’s fair to say that House of the Dragon Season 2’s critical reception wasn’t quite as hot as its opening chapter, or of most of Game Of Thrones‘ world-changing success. And as a stinger to that reception, the season has now broken a streak HBO had impressively held since Game of Thrones Season 1. For the first time since 2012, a Westeros show hasn’t picked up its usual awards nomination.
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House of the Dragon Season 2 was not nominated for best outstanding drama at the 2025 Emmy Awards. Previously, all eight seasons of the original series earned that nomination in their eligible year, and House of the Dragon Season 1 landed it as well. It’s a sad milestone for Westeros, but likely inevitable as the franchise continues to expand. Perhaps even more shockingly, the show was not nominated for any above-the-line Emmys this year at all. There are two shows premiering in 2026 — the new series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and House of the Dragon Season 3 — so hopefully they can score some nominations and make up for this miss. In the meantime, critics of Season 2 are poking fun at the series for this miss.
Game of Thrones is the stand-out series of the last decade, and it earned so many Emmys in its day that it became a frequent subject of jokes for hosts at the award show. The series aired eight seasons between 2011 and 2019, and was nominated for outstanding series each time. Unsurprisingly, the first spinoff House of the Dragon was nominated as well when it premiered in 2022, as it brought the franchise back to its roots in palace intrigue while elevating the visual spectacle of the dragons.
Premiering last August, House of the Dragon Season 2 was not as universally beloved. The season was originally planned with 10 episodes in mind, but HBO reduced its budget to allow for only eight episodes late in the production process. At that point, the 2023 Hollywood labor strikes left little or no time for writers to rework the material they had, and in the end, the climactic battle of the season was cut. This is likely the reason fans and critics felt the season stopped too abruptly, leaving story arcs big and small unresolved.
It’s particularly surprising that the show wasn’t nominated for any above-the-line nominations. It did, admittedly, pick up 6 below-the-line nominations:
- Outstanding Title Design
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Season Or A Movie
- Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes for “The Burning Mill”
- Outstanding Period Or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Hairstyling for “Smallfolk”
- Outstanding Period Or Fantasy/Sci-Fi Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) for “The Red Dragon and the Gold”
- Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for “The Red Sowing”
In addition to its eight outstanding drama series nominations, Game of Thrones had a total of 164 Emmy nominations in its time, with 59 wins. That includes four wins for outstanding drama series. It’s the most awarded show in Emmys history, alongside many other accolades.
Game of Thrones‘ award show tally is odd alongside its legacy among fans and critics — the ending of the series was widely regarded as a complete flop due to hasty writing. In some ways, that likely impacted fans’ response to House of the Dragon Season 2, as many were wary of being burned again. Hopefully when the franchise returns for double duty in 2026, it can prove it is still on a positive track.
The 2025 Emmys will air live on September 14th on CBS and Paramount+. House of the Dragon is streaming now on HBO Max.
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